ACKNOWLEDGING PRINT AND ELECTRONIC SOURCES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES

1. Learning Commons Fastfacts Series ©2011
How Do I Reference?
The APA style uses the name-year system for referencing,
not footnotes or endnotes. You will include an in-text
citation (also called a parenthetical reference) in the text
immediately following the information (e.g., title, word,
or phrase) that is being referenced, as well as an entry in
the References. (Note: Footnotes in APA are used to sup-
plement or amplify important information in the text or
for copyright permission.)
In-text citations include the author’s last name and year
of publication. These citations can be included within a
sentence in various ways:
• at the end of the sentence, in parentheses:
This hypothesis was tested (Smith, 2010).
• as part of the sentence, using the parentheses to include
whatever reference information is not in the sentence:
Smith (2010) tested this hypothesis. OR
Smith’s (2010) study tested this hypothesis. OR
In 2010, Smith tested this hypothesis.
Note: In the text of your paper, use “double quotation
marks” for the title of an article or chapter, and italics for
the title of a periodical (journal) or nonperiodical (book).
This handout provides examples of the APA format for
citations within the text (see “In-Text Citations”) as well
as for your references (see “Reference List”).
About this Handout
Information in this Fastfacts is based on the 6th edition
of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here,
the official APA sources have more complete information:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication
manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).
Washington: American Psychological Association.
APA Web site: http://www.apastyle.org/pubmanual.html
ACKNOWLEDGING PRINT AND ELECTRONIC SOURCES IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
APA STYLE
Why Should I Reference?
References are used to record or document the source of
each piece of information in your paper obtained from
other researchers and writers. If you fail to document
information that is not your own, you have committed
plagiarism, a form of stealing.
What Should I Reference?
You must reference all direct quotations; paraphrases of
material; and summaries of opinions, ideas and interpre-
tations obtained from other sources. If you fail to refer-
ence your information, you will be criticized for making
statements that appear to be unsupported by evidence. It
is not necessary to document information that is com-
mon knowledge, but remember that it is always better to
overdocument than to underdocument.
You may be concerned that, if you reference too much,
your instructors will think the paper is not your own
work. That is not so. The method of organization is yours,
as well as the purpose which ties the material together,
the topic sentences, concluding sentences, analytical and
evaluative comments which allow the reader to make
sense out of the reference material, and probably most of
the introductory and concluding paragraphs.
What Style Should I Use?
Always ask the professor which documentation style is re-
quired for the assignment. Styles can vary greatly between
journals even within one field. If no specifics are given,
this Fastfacts can serve as a guide to one of the standard
formats, described in the Publication Manual of the Ameri-
can Psychological Association (known as the APA style),
used in psychology and many of the social sciences.
Remember to choose one style for a particular paper, and
be consistent within that paper.

2. www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca 2.
A. IN-TEXT CITATIONS
A basic citation includes the author’s name and the year
of publication, separated by a comma. The following list
explains what information should be included for various
specific citation situations. These formats apply to both
electronic and print sources. Bracketed numbers refer to
the sections in the APA manual where each citation meth-
od is addressed.
ONE AUTHOR (6.11)
… was tested (Smith, 2010).
… was tested (Statistics Canada, 2008).
TWO AUTHORS (6.12)
… (Elias & Williams, 1996). BUT
Elias and Williams (1996) tested …
Note the use of the ampersand (&) in the parentheti-
cal citation, but not in the sentence.
THREE TO FIVE AUTHORS (6.12)
For the first citation:
… (Franklyn, Rosen, Lock, Smith, & Chen, 1996).
For another citation in the same paragraph:
… (Franklyn et al.).
For another citation in a different paragraph:
… (Franklyn et al., 1996). OR
Franklyn et al. (1996) found...
EXCEPTION: If the first authors of two different
sources have the same last name, cite as many names
as you need to distinguish between the two texts.
For example, Franklyn, Rosen, Lock, Smith, and
Chen, 1996, is abbreviated to Franklyn, Rosen,
Lock, et al., 1996; Franklyn, Rosen, Connor, Mur-
ray, and Ehrenfield, 1996, is abbreviated to Frank-
lyn, Rosen, Connor, et al., 1996.
SIX OR MORE AUTHORS (6.12)
… (Lui et al., 1995).
GROUPS AS AUTHORS (6.13)
For the first citation:
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2003)...
OR
...(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH],
2003).
For the subsequent citations:
NIHM (2003)... OR
... (NIMH, 2003).
NO AUTHOR (6.15)
Cite the first few words of the reference list entry
(usually the title of the article or book) and the year.
Italicize titles of books, brochures, periodicals, and
reports. Put quotation marks around titles of arti-
cles, chapters, webpages, etc. When there is no title,
cite the first few words of the text itself.
… (Studies of Alcohol, 1999).
MULTIPLE SOURCES, SAME AUTHOR (6.16)
Order them chronologically, earliest to latest.
… (Jones, 1965, 1973, 1988).
NOTE: Use ‘a’ and ‘b’ to distinguish two works by
the same author in the same year. (These are also
distinguished by ‘a’ and ‘b’ in the reference list,
where they should be ordered alphabetically by title.)
… (Jones, 1998a, 1998b).
MULTIPLE SOURCES, DIFFERENT AUTHORS (6.16)
List them alphabetically, regardless of date, separated
by a semi-colon.
… (Alberts et al., 2003; Jones, 1998a, 1998b;
Klevezal & Thompson, 1980; Sergeant, 1973, 1975;
Stanford, 2001).
DIFFERENT AUTHORS, SAME LAST NAME (6.14)
Use initials to distinguish them, and place them in
alphabetical order by first initial in parenthetical
references.
… (N. B. Smith, 2000; T. R. Smith, 1993). OR
N. B. Smith (2000) and T. R. Smith (1993) . . . .

3. www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca 3.
NO DATE (6.22)
… (Smith, n.d.).
A SPECIFIC PART OF A SOURCE (6.19)
Add a comma and the specific location after the
year. If there are no page numbers, use a paragraph
number or the closest heading.
… (Alberts, 2001, fig. 6).
… (Zelickson & Robbins, 1986, p. 24).
If directly quoting online material (6.05), give the
author, year, and page number in parenthesis. If
there is no pagination, use the paragraph number.
… (Brown & Jones, 2007, Conclusion section,
para. 4).
REPRINTED PUBLICATION (CLASSICAL WORKS)
(6.18)
Provide dates of original publication and publication
of the collection, separated by “/”:
… (Jackson, 1890/2003). OR
Jackson (1890/2003) ...
ANOTHER CITATION WITHIN YOUR SOURCE (6.17)
Avoid using “secondary” sources by finding and us-
ing the original source (e.g. Brown) whenever pos-
sible. If you can’t find and use the original, list only
your “secondary” source (e.g. Smith) in the reference
list.
… Brown’s study (as cited in Smith, 1995, p. 14).
If your quotation includes a citation, keep it in, but
include only the source you are using (e.g., Lamont)
in the reference list:
… several cases of “unusual side effects (Turner &
Jones, 1989)” have been reported (Lamont, 2003).
UNPUBLISHED INFORMATION (6.20)
Unpublished information that is not available to
other scholars — including your own lecture notes
— should be cited and described, but not included in
your reference list:
… (J. R. Ewing, personal communication,
November 16, 2003).
… (M. Li, lecture notes, POLS2000 Canadian Gov-
ernment, February 10, 2004).
COURSE AND LECTURE MATERIALS
Course readers: Treat articles in course readers as
“reprinted publications.”
Course manuals: Treat these as books or non-
periodicals with the instructor as author (unless
another author is indicated).
Lecture notes: Treat these as books or non-
periodicals if they are published, but as unpublished
information if they are your own notes or are unpub-
lished. Lecture notes are considered published if they
have been copied and distributed in print or on the
Web with the instructor’s permission.
B. REFERENCE LIST
The reference list comes at the end of your paper, on a
separate page, entitled References. Put the list in alphabeti-
cal order by author, and use a hanging indent to format all
entries (as shown).
This list shows you how to format various kinds of refer-
ence list entries. In the list, titles of books and periodicals
should always be in italics; articles should be in regular type
without quotation marks. List authors by “Last name, First
initials.”
ONE AUTHOR (7.02)
Author, A. A. (Date). Title (Edition). Location:
Publisher.
Rosenthal, R. (1987). Meta-analytic procedures for
social research (Rev. ed.). Newbury Park, CA:
Sage.
TWO OR MORE AUTHORS (6.27; 7.01.2)
List up to and including seven authors. If there are
more than seven, include the first six, then an ellipsis,
then the last author’s name:
DeMarcos, D. J., Alexander, T. G., Turner, W. G.,
Zebrinsky, R. T., Williams, A. G., Thomson, T.
R., ... Higgins, J. B. (1998). Memory function in
patients with Alzheimer’s. New York: Harbinger
Press.

4. www.learningcommons.uoguelph.ca 4.
GOVERNMENT OR GROUP AS AUTHOR (7.03.31)
Organization. (Date). Title (Report No. XXX).
Location: Publisher.
Statistics Canada. (1995). National population
health survey overview 1994-95 (Catalogue No.
82-567). Ottawa, ON: Minister of Industry.
CHAPTER OR PART IN A COLLECTION (7.02)
Author(s), A. A. (Date). Title of part. In E. E.
Editor(s) (Eds.), Title of collection (pp.
page–page). Location: Publisher.
Talbot, R. S., & Rouleau, J.-C. (2003). Psychiatric
care of adolescents. In A. C. Jones, T. R.
Smith, & L. T. Tabitha (Eds.), Culture,
adolescence, and mental illness (pp. 234-256).
Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.
If the chapter or part is considered a “reprint” (as it
would be in a course reader), add the original publi-
cation information in parentheses at the end:
Winston, A. S., & Blais, D. J. (2003). What counts
as an experiment?: A transdisciplinary
analysis of textbooks, 1930-1970. In M. Billig
& H. Davis (Eds.), PSYCH*1100 Principles of
Behaviour Course Reader (pp. 3-19). Guelph,
ON: University of Guelph, Office of Open
Learning. (Reprinted from American Journal of
Psychology, 109(4), 599-616, 1996.)
In text, cite as (Winston & Blais, 1996/2003).
COURSE AND LECTURE MATERIALS (7.02)
Course readers: Treat articles in course readers as
Chapter or Part in a Collection (see above).
Course manuals: Treat these as books or non-
periodicals, with the instructor as author (unless
another author is indicated).
Stengos, T. (2003). ECON*4640 Applied
Econometrics course manual. Guelph, ON:
University of Guelph.
Lecture notes: Treat these as books or non-
periodicals if they are published, but as unpublished
information (i.e., not included in the reference list) if
they are your own notes or are unpublished. Lecture
notes are considered published if they have been
copied and distributed in print or on the Web with
the instructor’s permission.
Stengos, T. (2003). ECON*4640 Applied
Econometrics course notes. Guelph, ON:
University of Guelph.
Stengos, T. (2003). ECON*4640 Applied
Econometrics course notes. Retrieved November
23, 2003, from http://www.uoguelph.ca/
econometrics.htm
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE (7.01.10)
Author(s), A. A. (Date). Title of article.
Newspaper Title, page number.
Stevenson, J. T. (2003, December 17). Depression
contributes to weight gain in adolescents. The
Toronto Star, p. D17.
If there’s no author, start with the article title (your
in-text citation should use the first words from the
title).
ARTICLE IN A PERIODICAL (7.01)
Author(s), A. A. (Date). Title of article. Title of
Journal, volume(issue), page–page.
Sobell, L. C., Cunningham J. A., & Sobell, M. B.
(1996). Recovery from alcohol problems with
and without treatment: Prevalence in two
population surveys. American Journal of Public
Health, 86, 966-972.
ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE PERIODICAL (6.31, 6.32 &
7.01)
Author(s), A. A. (Date). Title of article. Title
of Journal, volume(issue), page-page.
Retrieved from http://xxx
Patterson, Q. S. (1999). Psychology and the
student. Journal of Psychiatric Research,
23(3), 225-227. Retrieved from http://www.
sciencedirect.com/science/journal01651781
Many publishers now assign a Digital Object Identi-
fier or DOI to articles. If your article has one, you
should include this number instead of the website
URL. If your article has a DOI, it will be on the
first page of the article or in the full record display
on the database page of the search engine you are
using.

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If the article has a DOI, the reference will look like
this:
McKay, M., & Zakanis, K. (2009). The impact of
treatment on HPA axis activity in unipolar
major depression. Journal of Psychiatric
Research, 44(2), 183-192. doi:10.1016/
j.jpsychires.2009.01.012
NOTE: Do not include a date of retrieval when
using the DOI.
ONLINE DOCUMENT (7.02.19-22, 24, 29 &30)
Author, A. A. (Date). Title of work. Retrieved
from http://xxx
Stevenson, R. T. (2003). Helping children help
themselves. Retrieved from http://www.
children.com/articles/
If there’s no author, start with the title (your in-text
citation should use the first words from the title).
Depression drug causes legal furor. (2004, March
16). Retrieved from http://news.ninemsn.com.
au/Health/story_35725.asp
ELECTRONIC MESSAGE POSTINGS (7.11)
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of post
[Description of form]. Retrieved from
http://xxx
Simon, M. N., Jr. (2003, July 23). Finding
resources for psychology [Electronic mailing
list message]. Retrieved from http://groups.
yahoo.com/group/psychologyres/msg000999.
html
SOME GUIDELINES FOR REFERENCING
ELECTRONIC SOURCES
Remember to acknowledge electronic sources and to evalu-
ate them critically since much of the material on the inter-
net is inappropriate for use in an academic paper. Is the
reference current? Has the work been critically evaluated
and, if so, by whom? Who is the publisher or sponsoring
organization? Does the work cite sources? For informa-
tion about how to evaluate a Web site, look at www.lib.
uoguelph.ca/assistance and look for the topic under Online
Tutorials.
• When citing an internet document (nonperiodical) that
includes multiple pages with different URLs, provide a
URL that links to the home page for the document.
• For an online periodical with no DOI, provide the
home page URL of the journal.
• It is generally not necessary to include database informa-
tion or retrieval dates (unless the information is likely to
change over time).
• Use n.d. (no date) when no publication date is visible.
• If page numbers are not available in an online source,
provide paragraph number or the nearest heading.
• Break a URL after a slash or before a period. Do not
insert (or allow your wordprocessor to insert) a hyphen
at the break.
• If the author of a document is not identified, begin the
reference with the title of the document.
• If the document retrieved is an abstract rather than a
full paper, begin the retrieval statement with “Abstract
retrieved from http://xxx.”
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